AMERICAN TRADE BINDINGS WITH NATIVE AMERICAN THEMES

American Trade Bindings with
Native American Themes
1875-1933
3
Margaret Armstrong, 1898
The Adventures of Captain Bonneville U.S.A.
by Washington Irving
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898
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American Trade Bindings with
Native American Themes
1875-1933
Collected and Described
by
Richard Minsky
Stockport, New York
Richard Minsky
2014
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Copyright ©2014 Richard Minsky
All rights reserved.
Deluxe Edition
ISBN-10: 0937258016
ISBN-13: 978-0-937258-01-9
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The Artists: Covers, Dust Jackets, and Illustrations by
May Todd Aaron
Laura Adams Armer
Sidney Armer
Margaret Armstrong
Thomas Watson Ball
Louis Betts
Reginald B. Birch
Carlton Studio
William De La Montagne Cary
John Gadsby Chapman
Florence Choate
F. Colburn Clark
P. J. Conkwright
Angel de Cora (Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka)
Earl Stetson Crawford
Will Crawford
Rudolf Cronau
Harold James Cue
Edward S. Curtis
Elizabeth Curtis
John Steeple Davis
The Decorative Designers
Frederic S. Dellenbaugh
Edwin Willard Deming
Joseph K. Dixon
Maynard Dixon
Charles Buckles Falls
Joseph Finnemore
Leon Gordon
Frederic W. Goudy
George Bird Grinnell
Hester Dean Guie
Isaac Brewster Hazelton
Frank Hazenplug
Eric A. Hegg
John P. Heins
George W. Hood
Adrian Iorio
Albert Ernest Jenks
W. B. King
J. E. Laughlin
Frederic Lowenheim
Florenece Lundborg
Charles MacDonald Manly
Walter McClintock
P. B. McCord
Blanche Helen McLane
Marie L. McLaughlin
Frank T. Merrill
Frank J. Murch
Albert Operti
Robert E. Peary
Charles J. Post
Poyege
John Rae
Frederic Remington
Amy Richards
Rome K. Richardson
Volney A. Richardson
Frank A. Rinehart
Charles M. Russell
Julian Harris Salomon
Henry Sandham
Frank Earle Schoonover
Julian Ruggles Seavey
Ralph Fletcher Seymour
A. B. Shute
Luther Standing Bear
Morgan Steinmetz
Bertha Stuart
James R. Stuart
Otto Toaspern
William Ladd Taylor
Lee Thayer
Susette La Flesche Tibbles
(Inshta Theamba, Bright Eyes)
Allen True
Van Tsihnahjinnie
Roger Vernam
L. Valentine
Enoch Ward
Charlotte Weber
William Fletcher White
Waldo Wilkie
Emery Leverett Williams
Thompson Willing
W. H. Wolf
Stanley L. Wood
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Florence Lundborg, 1904
Yosemite Legends by Bertha H. Smith
Paul Elder and Company
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Preface
The problem with cataloging this exhibition is
that the books are so interesting it’s easy to get
distracted by their contents. I knew very little
about Native American history, and each book was
a revelation. Several categories emerged of covers
that represented different aesthetic paradigms and
different approaches to the subject.
There are decorative Indian motifs used by
well-known cover designers, book covers designed
by Indian artists, covers presenting stereotypical
representations of Indians, propaganda against
marauding savages, propaganda from missionaries and humanitarians, propaganda by Indians,
juvenile adventure stories, books written by
Indians to preserve oral history and culture,
poetry, prehistoric fiction, autobiographies, travelogues, and more.
Seen together, these book covers give a visual
representation from many perspectives of Native
American cultures and their relationships with
those who came from abroad. We think mostly of
white Europeans in that regard, but you will also
see books by an “Indian Chief” who died of an
apparent suicide shortly after it was discovered
he was the son of a “black” (by North Carolina
racial standards of the time) janitor. Today his life
is studied in the context of racial identity.
The books refer to diverse Aboriginal Peoples
in the Americas, which made it challenging to
find a suitable ethnonym for each listing, and for
the essays. There are different endonyms among
the nearly 700 Indian Tribal Entities in the United
States, as well as individual preferences that may
be contrary. The Inuit, Yupik and Aleut peoples in
Alaska are distinct from American Indians, and
I’ve adopted Alaska Natives when referring generally to the region.
The term “First Nations” is preferred in Canada
for most of the indigenous Indian peoples, and
individual bands have chosen their own usages.
The Métis and Inuit are not Indians and are
distinct from “First Nations” peoples.1,2 Usage of
“First Nations” is migrating southward. Southern
Oregon University has adopted it for southwestern
Oregon and northern California.3
Names and spellings in catalog entries are as
they appear in that edition. One listing may be
“Navajo” and another “Navaho.” “Eskimo,” the
early name for Inuit, is now rarely used in Canada,
but was common during the period of these books.
The name comes from an Algonquin term meaning
“raw meat eaters,” and many people find the term
offensive.1
My gratitude goes to those who have informed
this catalog and assisted with its development.
John Lehner remains the most consistent in this
regard. He suggested several of the covers that you
see here, and we discuss cover designs and attributions by e-mail almost every day.
Suggestions of books for this exhibition also
came from Robert Beasecker, Christina Kraus,
Jeffrey Harding, Catherine Petruccione and Ronald
Sollome.
Barbara Slate read the text and made numerous
suggestions that improved the readability.
Thanks again go to Edward Levin for assistance in proofreading the text, correcting stylistic,
conceptual and typographic errors. Any remaining
errors are, of course, my sole responsibility.
The checklist of this exhibition is alphabetical
by author, with the exception of two books that
arrived late and five items that didn’t quite fit the
parameters of selection but were included because
they are interesting. These are at the end of the
checklist.
Words First: An Evolving Terminology Relating to Aboriginal
Peoples in Canada. See Reference, p70.
2 A Note on Terminology: Inuit, Métis, First Nations,
and Aboriginal.
3 First Nations Collection. Hannon Library Digital Collections.
1
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Angel de Cora (Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka)
In the Preface to Wigwam Stories by Mary Catherine Judd (Ginn, 1901), the author writes “… Miss Angel de Cora,
a young Indian artist of great promise, has contributed three full-page sketches, the cover design, and numerous
initials and designs.” The title page also gives de Cora’s Indian name, Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka.
A Winnebago from Nebraska born in 1871, de
Cora studied art at Smith College, illustration at Drexel
Institute, and at Boston’s Cowles Art School.
The drawings are realistic, and convey the emotion
of their characters, but do not hint at the geometric
design of the unsigned cover. We would have had a
difficult time guessing the attribution without the
author's statement. One of the initials is signed with
a “c” in a box—something to keep in mind for future
attributions.
This was not Angel de Cora’s first work for a Boston
publisher. The previous year she did the frontispiece
1901, p. 52
1901, p. 53
(right) for The Middle Five by Francis LaFlesche [Small,
Maynard, 1900]. It evokes the emotion of an Indian boy
who has entered a Mission school, has to give up his
Indian name and is forbidden to speak his language
while he learns English. This is how the author was
educated, and the book tells the story of his friends and
their experiences. Based on the attribution in Wigwam
Stories, the drawings in that book, and the lettering, I
believe this unsigned cover is by de Cora.
In 1901 she illustrated Old Indian Legends by Zitkala
Sa (Gertrude Bonin) for Ginn, and we attribute this
unsigned cover to de Cora as well. She died of pneumonia in Northampton, MA in 1919.
1901, p. 66
The Indians' Book by Natalie Curtis has title page
and chapter titles by Angel de Cora, and the unsigned
double cover design is most likely by de Cora. Curtis
gave up the notion of a career as a concert pianist to
become an ethnomusicologist. Though her narrative
about gathering the content is a clear window into
the cultures she visits, her self-identification is not as
an author but the recorder and editor of the volume,
which she says is written and illustrated by Indians.
It contains songs, photos and artwork from Indian
nations across North America [see also pp. 25, 43].
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Angel de Cora
Frontispiece from The Middle Five
1907, p. 43
E. Pauline Johnson
Canadian poet E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) was born on the Mohawk Indian Reserve in Brantford, Ontario
in 1862. Her father, G.H.M. Johnson, was Head Chief of the Six Nations [see p. 51].
In her mid 40s she was living in Vancouver, her health failing.
Her friends arranged for the publication of Legends of Vancouver
in 1911 to help raise money for her care. The book sold out several
printings very quickly. Left is the undated 4th edition, with a
1911 copyright by the author. No publisher or place is identified,
though we believe it is Vancouver. It was issued in an embossed
card case binding sometime before her death in 1913.
We also have an edition [right] illustrated with photographs, published by McClelland & Stewart in Toronto, with
decorations by J. E. H. Macdonald, undated, with the publisher’s
1922 copyright.
Johnson’s complete poems, titled Flint and Feather, with illustrations by J. R. Seavey, published by The Musson Book Company
in Toronto, was so popular it went through at least 23 printings by 1931. First published in 1912, we have the Fifth Edition,
Revised and Enlarged, 1917, in a gold stamped suede Yapp edge
limp binding with a symbolic crossed spear and feather. The
Ninth Edition, 1924, is in horizontally ribbed cloth stamped in
a coppery faux gold with a symmetrical design of arrows and
feathers [see the dust jacket on p. 51].
Inshta Theamba (Bright Eyes, Susette La Flesche Tibbles)
An important Native rights activist, Bright Eyes contributed to several works in the exhibition.
Ploughed Under: The Story of
an Indian Chief, told by himself
with an Introduction by Inshta
Theamba (Bright Eyes) is not
by an Indian Chief, but is
by William Justin Harsha, a
popular pastor. In the introduction Bright Eyes chastises those
who want to exterminate the
Indians. She calls for equality
and citizenship. Apparently she
also had a hand in editing the
1881, p. 49
text and providing Harsha with
enough descriptions and facts to give
the story credibility. We have two
copies, apparently identical bibliographically, one in taupe, the other
in red cloth, with the same design
stamped in black. The red copy
has deeper stamping. It is possible
that the stamping of each is from
a different engraving of the same
image, as there are details on the red
copy not on the taupe, but that might
be from the different impression. The
spine of the taupe copy is slightly
more ornate, with an additional
decorative border.
Oo-Mah-Ha Ta-Wa-Tha (Omaha
City) by Fannie Reed Giffen
with illustrations by Susette
La Flesche Tibbles was selfpublished in 1898. The contents
include the text of the treaty
with the Indians, biographies
of the Chiefs, stories, and a children's song. The Preface by John
Webster tells us that Bright Eyes
is the daughter of Chief E-sta1898, p. 46
mah-za (Iron Eye), and that her
illustrations are the first artistic work of an American
Indian ever published. The cover is unsigned, but in
the same style as many
of the illustrations, so
we attribute it to Bright
Eyes.
Illustration from Oo-MahHa Ta-Wa-Tha for "A
Dream Woman...This
story is told by Waoowinchtcha, wife of Iron
Eye, and translated by
her daughter, Dr. Susan
Picotte, who is a graduate
of the Woman's Medical
College, of Philadelphia,
and is a physician in
the Omaha tribe" (the
illustrator's sister).
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Figurative Imagery
An Indian man in full feathered headdress adorns many covers, and there is always at least one feather in
his hair. Very few covers feature an Indian woman.
1875, p. 56
The earliest book in this exhibition,
Charles McKnight’s Our Western Borders 100
Years Ago, features the requisite Indian on the
spine. The cover is emerging from Victorian
design with a full panel illustration of a frontiersman in black, but the lettering hearkens
back—one would think intentionally, based on
the title.
Charles Eastlake’s Hints on Household Taste
was just beginning to have a wide influence
on style. The American edition was published
in 1872. In 1880 the same publisher issued
McKnight’s Simon Girty [pp. 30, 57] incorporating several Eastlake elements on the covers
and spine.
1890, p. 40
1899, p. 43
1893, p. 63
1900, pp. 23, 47
1900, p. 50
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1900, p. 65
1900, p. 40
1901, p. 39
The figure on The Indians of To-Day [facing page]
is adapted directly from Frank Rinehart’s photo
of Swift Dog [see p. 23]. We don’t know who
rendered the line interpretation of the photo for
the stamping die and chose to colorize the shield
yellow and red. The cypher of Claude Bragdon
is under the publisher’s device on the back cover
[see p. 47]. That device is Bragdon’s work. Perhaps
he did the cover as well, but Frank Hazenplug
was doing most of Stone’s covers at the time.
It’s likely that Hazenplug (also known as
Hazen—he shortened his name in 1911) designed
the unusually colored figure for The Lonesome
Trail, an unsigned cover from John Lane. It looks
like his work, he was fond of orange, and Lane
was one of his clients.
1907, p. 58
1905, p. 50
1907, p. 65
1904, p. 39
Adrian Iorio’s distinctive monogram is on
The Basket Woman by Mary Austin. This copy is
rubber-stamped on both front and back endpapers with “Dr. George G. Hunter, Los Angeles,
Cal.” He was the author’s brother. His daughter
lived with Mary Austin, who considered him an
unfit parent. Her biographer wrote:
“The dispute between George Hunter,
a respected Los Angeles neurologist, and
his sister escalated into a bitter feud that
was apparently unresolved when he was
murdered by a deranged female patient
while making a house call in 1933.”
1908, p. 52
[Lanigan, Esther F. see References p. 70]
1910, p. 52
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Illustrations
There are so many illustrations in this exhibition’s books that they could become another exhibition. Many
interesting discoveries were made while looking at them.
We have two printings from Little, Brown of Eastman's Wigwam Evenings that use the same illustrations by Edwin Willard
Deming and have the same covers, but were produced by different printers. Both are undated, ©1909 [see p. 45]. One has the
illustrations in halftone and the other has line renderings. In comparing the illustration that was adapted for the cover art, the
image is signed E. W. Deming on the halftone reproduction, but in the line rendering the signature is gone and replaced with
an unusual monogram. In the future we will know that is Deming's cipher.
That is not the only book in the exhibition that uses line drawings in one edition and halftones in another. Generally letterpress
halftones or photogravures are used for photographs, but in the Wanamaker Primer we see one version (1910, Second Edition)
with line renderings of the Dixon photos from the Indian Expedition, and in the Hiawatha edition (n.d., ©1909) the same photo
is reproduced in halftome [see p. 38]. The lighter horizontal bands in the image are from the type on the verso.
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In The Vanishing Race, Dixon’s photos are reproduced by photogravure [see pp. 33, 44].
21
Captivity Narratives
Autobiographies of men and women who had been captured by Indians, often as children raised in the
tribal culture, captivated the attention of many readers in the 19th century. Some are straightforward,
others sensationalist.
In 1883 Lippincott published James Macaulay’s
Grey Hawk, a juvenile adaptation of the 1830 book,
Narrative of John Tanner’s thirty years’ captivity among the
Indians [see p. 54]. There are many unattributed illustrations, and fortunately one is signed W. D. Cary. William
De La Montagne Cary (1840-1922), renowned for his
Western and Indian paintings and illustrations, based
them on sketches he made during expeditions in 1861
and 1874. This copy is annotated in pencil throughout
with comments and references to other sources.
As a child Tanner was carried off by a band
of Shawnees, who sold him to an Ojibbeway chief
whose wife adopted him. He assimilated, married an
Indian woman, and as an adult worked as a guide and
interpreter.
1880, p. 57
A Short Biography of John
Leeth was reproduced in a
limited edition by The Burrows
Brothers Company in 1904 [see
p. 50]. The binding is uniform
with other volumes issued in
their series, Narratives of Indian
Captivities. The cover has the
series title and generic subtitle,
rather than what is on the title
page.
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The story of Simon Girty: The White Savage has been
retold many times by different authors. Sometimes
portrayed as a villain and others a hero, Girty and
his brothers were taken as children and adopted by
Senecas. After seven years he was returned to his
parents. During the Revolutionary War he switched
allegiance and fought for the loyalists, serving with the
Indian nations allied with the British. His later adventures, including participation in a ritual torture and
execution, are vividly described.
The binding, with its combination of Eastlake
decoration and a violent pictorial vignette, is in poor
condition, but no other copy of the edition was found.
Crane, Leo. Indians of the Enchanted Desert. Illustrated with
photographs. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1925,
First Impression, September. Midnight cloth stamped in
turquoise, purple and orange with a panel vignette of an
adobe building; orange lettering on cover and spine. 23.2 x
15.7 [DD]
Curtis, Natalie. The Indians’ Book. Illustrated with photographs and drawings by Indians; title page by Angel de
Cora (signed A de C). New York and London: Harper and
Brothers, 1907, September. Light brown cloth stamped in
turquoise, brown and light yellow with a bold geometric
design on both covers and spine; title on a paper spine
label printed in green, tan and black, 25.5 x 18.5. Also a
copy in light beige polished buckram with the same design
in midnight green, yellow and orange-red, n.d., ©1923,
L-E (Nov., 1930), 25.9 x 18.6, in a glassine jacket; and one
in grey buckram, same design, but spine title on the cloth,
in chipped, browned paper jacket with same design, n.d.
©1935, F-M (June, 1937). [Angel de Cora, unsigned, likely]
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S. The North Americans of Yesterday.
350+ illustrations. New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s
Sons; The Knickerbocker Press, 1906, April; 3rd printing,
(1st was January 1901). Tan cloth stamped in brown with
black outlines and details, with a sketch of a stone animal
head from Copan, the sacred butterfly of the Mokis, and an
arrangement of Puebloan scrollwork; spine figure from terracotta statue on p. 113, with scrollwork and Moki symbols.
23.2 x 16.4 [Dellenbaugh, Frederick S., signed F.S.D]
Dix, Beulah Marie. Soldier Rigdale. Illustrated by Reginald B.
Birch. New York, London: The Macmillan Company, 1899.
Tan cloth stamped in brown, russet, white and gold with an
Indian man holding a bow, resting a hand on a gold shield
text border, and a white soldier in cape and helmet holding
a rifle. Between the two men is a campfire with gold flames,
gold shields surrounding the titles, a gold ship on matte
gold waves between two stylized gold dolphins, and a gold
crab. Titles in russet and dark brown on cover and spine,
gold sword and tomahawk on spine. 19.8 x 13.8
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Dixon, Dr. Joseph K. (Ka-Ra-Kon-Tie, Flying Sun, Mohawk)
The Vanishing Race. Illustrated with photogravures by Dr.
Joseph K. Dixon. “The concept of Rodman Wanamaker”
stated on title page. Garden City, New York: Doubleday,
Page & Company, 1914, Second and revised edition. Russet
cloth stamped in black, white, and gold with a vertical band,
styled as a beaded belt, profile of a Native American man in
a circular panel in front of the belt. Similar beaded design on
spine with two arrows and a pipe. Titles on cover and spine
in gold with black outlines. 25.5 x 18 [DD?]
Domville-Fife, Charles W. Among Wild Tribes of the
Amazons. Illustrated with photographs and maps. Philadelphia, London: J. B. Lippincott Company; Seeley, Service &
Co., Ltd., 1924. Red linen-weave cloth stamped in gold with
figure of a Native in leaf skirt and feather headgear holding
a bow and arrows in one hand and a short pointed weapon
in the other. 22.2 x 14.6
Drake, Samuel G. The Aboriginal Races of North America. New
York: Hurst & Company, n.d., ©1880. Red cloth stamped in
gold with three Native American men gathered around a
fire, one stands holding a spear, two seated with pipes, in
front of a teepee decorated with a man holding a gun and a
pipe, another with a bow, and patterns; black title on cover,
gold title on spine, both read Drake’s Indians of North America.
Spine decoration in gold of a shield with pipe, tomahawk,
spears, bow and arrow above title and an Indian man with
bow, shield, tomahawk, and scythe below. 24.2 x 16.7
Du Bois, Constance Goddard. A Soul in Bronze. Chicago and
New York: Herbert S. Stone and Company, 1900. Dark blue
cloth stamped in orange and tan with a feather attached to
a beaded cord, border echoes beaded cord. Orange titles on
cover and spine. [lib, Uptown Branch sticker on spine]. 17.7
x 11.3 [Frank Hazenplug, unsigned, K254]
44
Markham, Richard. Colonial Days. Illustrated. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Company, n.d., ©1879-1880-1881. Dark
green cloth stamped in gold, silver, orange and black with
images of a ship, a soldier with rifle and bayonet stepping
on a cannon, profile of an Indian, Indians rowing a canoe,
and at the top, a running border repeating a shield over a
lance, a tomahawk, a bow and a quiver of arrows; title in
silver with gold initials on cover and spine, author in orange
on cover, black on spine; the top border continues to the
spine; silver figure of a soldier with shouldered rifle, and
crossed swords at the bottom with a hat. Missing plain tan
ffep replaced. Another copy, likely the first printing, [R,
rubbed, faded, pieces missing from spine ends, rehinged] in
olive green cloth with the same stamping, additionally with
horizontal rules and a central decorative design stamped in
blind on the back cover; printed endpapers with a repeat
pattern of birds and branches (missing the ffep), inscription
dated Christmas 1882. 22.8 x 19.2 [unsigned, likely the same
unknown artist as Aboard the Mavis, the Bodley books, etc.]
Markham, Richard. Colonial Days. Illustrated. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Company, n.d., ©1879-1880-1881. Grey-blue
cloth stamped in darker blue, black and brown with a frontiersman in fringed buckskin standing outside a log cabin
pointing a smoking rifle at an Indian, who is falling backwards, gold title with black border; scene wraps to spine with
gold title, shield, plants; printed endpapers with pattern of
leaves and flowers. Inscribed 1892. [R, faded, rubbed, spine
ends gone. Also a copy in yellow buckram stamped with silver
titles, plain endpapers. [R, soiled] 23 x 19.2
Markham, Richard. Colonial Days. Illustrated. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Company, n.d., ©1879-1880-1881. Diagonally ribbed red cloth stamped in black and grey, a man
with rifle, an Indian lying in front of him appears dead.
Behind, a boy has turned away and is hiding in his mother’s
dress, clutching her. On the side, a cabin, likely theirs, is in
flames. Title in drop-out with black outline. This panel scene
is surrounded with a pleasant floral border. Similar border
on spine, title in drop-out with black border in a gold panel
with most of the gold rubbed or flaked off. 23.3 x 19.2
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Click the cover below to
visit the web page for this book
with information about editions and ordering
The Limited Edition cover features a cloth panel reproducing the
unsigned cover design for The Indians' Book by Natalie Curtis,
Harper and Brothers, ©1923, Revised edition. The design is likely
by Angel de Cora (Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka, Winnebago).
72